However the red button looks to have had a stay of execution. "At the BBC Trust it is our responsibility to get the best out of the BBC for licence fee payers. One of the ways we do this is by carrying out an in-depth review of each of the BBC's services at least once every 5 years," says the BBC.

"This time we are looking at BBC Online and BBC Red Button Services. We want your views on these services and your suggestions on how they can be improved. There is also space to raise any other points not covered by our questions."

As the BBC says, the consultation is a series of questions and they cover things like how often you use the red button and what for. Not counting the "About you" bit, there are around 20 questions.

The red button launched in 1999, a long time ago, but really came into its own during the London Olympics when the BBC used it to blanket cover the major sporting events. µ